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Welcome to MoveOn Text Training

Note: to provide you with the best possible experience, we recommend that you use a desktop computer to complete this training. Should you find the need to pause the training and return later, make sure to resume on the same device. Finally, this training makes use of web browser cookies. If these are cleared from your web browser, you will need to repeat the training from the beginning.

Welcome! You’re here because you are considering volunteering with the MoveOn Text Team to help build a more inclusive, progressive future. THANK YOU.

What is Texting? Texting for MoveOn isn’t like texting with your friends. This kind of texting gets your message out to hundreds or thousands of people in a very short time.

  • You don’t type the messages yourself — they are pre-written
  • You don’t use your own phone number — you are anonymous
  • You can be highly effective after only a brief training period

Maybe you’re already an experienced activist texter, or maybe this will be your first experience. Either way, we want to help you understand what is unique about MoveOn and how the Text Team fits into our strategy and goals.

What is MoveOn? MoveOn is a powerful non-profit organization dedicated to building a better society—one where everyone can thrive. MoveOn members are committed to an inclusive and progressive future. We mobilize together to support political candidates, pass legislation, and create cultural changes to achieve our vision.

MoveOn employs a wide variety of methods to mobilize and persuade. Texting is an essential and highly effective method. We use two software tools in our texting work. The first, called Slack, is a communications tool that allows Text Team members to share information with each other. The second, called Spoke, is a texting tool that facilitates sending text messages to large numbers of people and lets texting volunteers read and respond to their replies. Volunteers don’t type their own messages, they do not use their personal phone number, and the people they interact with see only their first name (or an alias). One person can send hundreds of texts in mere minutes. With this powerful tool, you can make a real difference as part of a dedicated team engaged in progressive campaigns.

Volunteer work with the Text Team has no fixed time commitment. You can tailor your texting times and volume to your schedule and to only those campaigns that you wish to support. Whether you engage daily, once a week, or just when a vital issue is at stake, you can make a real difference.

MoveOn has strict rules of engagement that protect you, protect the people you contact, and ensure that we are always working in compliance with the law and in accordance with our values. These rules aren’t exactly the same as those used by other organizations with which you may have texted. Keep that in mind as you move through this training program.

Ready? Let’s go!

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